NY-NJ reports half-year growth

NY-NJ reports half-year growth    The Port of New York and New Jersey has reported that it loaded 1.5 million containers in the first six months of 2004, up 10 percent over the same period in 2003.
   In the first half-year of 2004, the port handled 630,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to and from Asia, accounting for 42 percent of the port’s total market. The port shipped 195,000 TEUs to and from Latin America, up 19 percent for the first half of 2003.
   New York-New Jersey’s intermodal rail traffic rose by 27 percent in the first half-year of 2004, to 138,227 containers, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement.
   The port’s total imports, through June 2004, totaled more than $43 billion, a 12 percent increase over the first half of 2003. Exports in 2004 increased 5.5 percent, for a total of $11.5 billion.
   Containerized imports increased 8.4 percent; reaching 1,041,951 loaded TEUs compared to the same period in 2003, while exports rose 15 percent to 460,086 loaded TEUs.
   Breaking down containerized imports, the port reported that furniture accounted for 83,000 TEUs, up 17 percent; women’s and infant wear, 25,000 TEUs, up 20 percent; beer and ale, 20,000 TEUs, up 15 percent, and paper products, 10,000 TEUs, up 11 percent.
   As for ranking exports, paper and paperboard accounted for 94,000 TEUs, up 34 percent; metal scrap, 13,700 TEUs, up 46 percent, and logs and lumber, 10,800 TEUs, up 59 percent.
   The port’s motor vehicle trade rose 38.6 percent, to 382,547 vehicles. New York-New Jersey’s total cargo, including bulk products, exceeded 40.5 million metric tons in the first half of 2004, a 3 percent increase from the same period in 2003.
   In the second half of 2004, the first stage of expanding the port’s ExpressRail facility in Elizabeth, N.J., will become operational. “Also, our 45-foot deepening project is on target for completion,” said Richard M. Larrabee, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s port commerce director.
   New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey announced that the port would invest $1 billion in improving infrastructure over the next five years.